The present study evaluated the emergence of second-language intraverbals in typically developing young children following a small-group teaching intervention. Choral responding was employed with a group of 6 primary school children (5-6 years old) to teach first-language tacts (e.g., "What is this in English?" ["Hospital"])…

Vocal stereotypy is a commonly occurring challenging behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is frequently maintained by automatic reinforcement and often interferes with skill acquisition. Matched stimulation (MS), and response interruption and redirection (RIRD) are two interventions that have been demonstrated to be…

Previous research has demonstrated the utility of using lag schedules of reinforcement to increase response variability of children with autism. However, little research has evaluated whether the lag schedule promotes variability from within an already-established repertoire or expands the current repertoire by promoting the use of new responses…

We evaluated verbal instruction and shaping using TAG (teaching with acoustical guidance) to improve tackling by 3 high school football players. Verbal instruction and shaping improved tackling for all 3 participants. In addition, performance was maintained as participants moved more quickly through the tackling procedure.

Several studies have demonstrated that conditions can be arranged to promote increases in a nontargeted verbal operant following instruction of another verbal operant. In the current study, we used a multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of 2 instructional protocols on nontargeted verbal repertoires (listing of synonyms and vocal…

Time-out is a negative punishment procedure that parents and teachers commonly use to reduce problem behavior; however, specific time-out parameters have not been evaluated adequately. One parameter that has received relatively little attention in the literature is the mode of administration (verbal or physical) of time-out. In this study, we…

We compared strategies to teach vocal intraverbal responses to an adolescent diagnosed with autism and Down syndrome. One strategy involved echoic prompts only. The second strategy involved an echoic prompt paired with a modeled prompt in the form of sign language. Presenting the modeled prompt with the echoic prompt resulted in faster acquisition…

We compared the efficacy of tact-to-intraverbal (i.e., using picture prompts) and echoic-to-intraverbal transfer-of-stimulus-control procedures to establish intraverbal responding in 3 boys (4 years old) with autism. For all 3 participants, the picture prompts resulted in fewer trials to criterion, but both prompting tactics were eventually…

Four boys with autism were taught via echoic prompting and constant prompt delay to mand for answers to questions by saying "I don't know please tell me" (IDKPTM). This intervention resulted in acquisition of the IDKPTM response for all 4 participants and in acquisition of correct answers to most of the previously unknown questions for 2…

We trained 3 mothers of children with autism to create, implement, and systematically fade scripts to promote vocal initiations during play. All 3 children's scripted and unscripted initiations increased after the introduction and fading of scripts, and unscripted initiations were maintained at the 2-week follow-up. The results indicate that…

Bruxism, forceful grinding of one's teeth together, can produce destructive outcomes such as wear on the teeth and damaged gums and bone structures. The current study implemented a multicomponent intervention that consisted of vocal and physical cues to decrease rates of bruxism. A partial component analysis suggested that the vocal cue was only…

Using a multiple probe design across responses, we demonstrated the effectiveness of intensive intervention in establishing spontaneous verbal responses to 2 3-year-old children with autism with generalization to novel settings involving novel persons. Intervention involved discrete-trial instruction (i.e., repeated instructional opportunities…

Two nonhandicapped preschoolers were taught strategies thought to facilitate interaction and were prompted to use these strategies during free play with three handicapped (behavior disordered) classmates. The intervention resulted in higher rates of interaction for each of the handicapped children that persisted above baseline levels after teacher…

Functional analysis of destructive behavior of a four-year-old boy with autism and oppositional defiant disorder was able to delineate the specific form of verbal attention that was responsible for behavioral maintenance. Treatment based on the analysis reduced the behavior to near-zero levels. (DB)

Three children (ages 4-5) with autism and mental retardation were treated for deficits in self-initiated speech. A treatment package employing visual cue fading was compared with a graduated time-delay procedure. Both treatments included training multiple self-initiated verbalizations using multiple therapists and settings. Both treatments were…